


Like a Moth to Flame

by Dead_Fireflies375



Series: DE Artfest 2020 [7]
Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - Creatures & Monsters, Alternate Universe - No Androids (Detroit: Become Human), Based on episode 67 of The Magnus Archives, DEArtfest, F/F, Happy Ending?, North is a sapphic disaster, discussion of eldritch fear gods, lesbian disasters let's go, light fluff, loss of vision, mentioned averted apocalypse, no beta we die like men, there is Reed900 if you squint, this is the sapphic monster gf content that I crave
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-29
Updated: 2020-07-29
Packaged: 2021-03-06 03:22:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,183
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25586635
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dead_Fireflies375/pseuds/Dead_Fireflies375
Summary: North spies a cute girl who regularly stops in the coffee shop she works in. The woman is equal parts beautiful and mysterious and every gut instinct in her is telling her to run away. But North can't help but let herself be drawn to her as the mysterious woman enraptures her. But once she gets close to her, she quickly realizes that there is even more that she does not know or understand and finds herself tied up in something much larger than she originally believed.DE Artfest Day 28: Monster AU
Relationships: Ada (Detroit: Evolution)/North (Detroit: Become Human)
Series: DE Artfest 2020 [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1814305
Kudos: 3





	Like a Moth to Flame

**Author's Note:**

> Hello girls and gays!!!
> 
> Now, these are coming out a little out of order. I still haven't posted my fic for Whump yet, but this one was shorter so I wanted to get it out now instead of having it get pushed back because of the others.
> 
> Anyways, this is inspired by The Magnus Archives Episode 67: Burning Desire. You don't need to know anything about that to understand this though. And if you are familiar with that episode, this goes a different direction than the episode does so who knows what will happen? 
> 
> Hope you enjoy it!!! Ihad lots of fun writing this one lol

North knew that the woman wasn’t normal. That’s why she was so interested in her. But North thought she was more of a social outcast, someone who felt like she didn’t have a place where she belonged. Someone  like North. She definitely didn’t think that she wasn’t human. 

North remembered the first time she saw her. She was the most beautiful woman North had ever seen. Bright platinum blonde hair that shone like starlight. This aura of confidence and poise that just oozed off her. But her eyes- that should have been the first red flag. You see, she always had sunglasses on, even inside. The dark kind, the ones were you couldn’t see her eyes no matter how hard you tried. But despite that, her gaze held so much power in it. It felt like she wasn’t just looking at you- she was  _ seeing _ you. Like really seeing the you that existed under all the false layers you put up for others. It was … kind of disconcerting. North knew that she should keep her distance from the strange woman, but hell, maybe her fight or flight response was messed up. Because all she wanted to do was get closer.

The first time she saw Ada at the coffee shop, she had walked back into the kitchen, partially in a daze as the woman lingered in her thoughts. Markus saw her and the look in her eyes and shook his head. He had been working there far longer than her, probably around the time it had opened.

“You should stay away from her,” he told North.

“What?” she asked, snapping out of her daze.

“Ada. Stay away from her. She’s trouble.”

“What are you talking about?”

“She’s been coming here for years and there’s just- there’s something off with her. Don’t get close if you know what’s good for you.”

Maybe North should have listened to him. But in reality, there was not much he could have said that would have prevented anything. She was being drawn in like a moth to a flame and there was nothing anyone could have done to stop it.

It wasn’t immediate, that’s for sure. North was barely able to pull herself together enough to confirm her order, despite it being the same thing every time. A large black coffee, two sugars. It was just, being under her gaze was so intense. Even without being able to see her eyes, North could pinpoint the exact second where Ada’s eyes would look at her. It felt like a spotlight was being shone on her and that there was nothing she could hide when the woman was watching her. It was terrifying. But she always found herself missing it when she felt Ada’s gaze turn away.

Every time she walked in, she would take her order and sit at the same table by the window, quietly staring at the people outside for about an hour. It was peculiar. She never really seemed to talk to anyone nor did she ever do anything else besides quietly look. It was silly, but sometimes North found herself being jealous of the people outside that she looked at. North wanted Ada to look at her and only her, but she couldn’t draw up the courage to properly talk to her.

There were two occasions in the year leading up to North finally talking to Ada where she saw someone else talk to her. The first time, it was some random guy trying to chat her up. At least that’s what it looked like to North. She couldn’t quite hear their conversation, but she could recognize the kind of approach he made towards her. It made North upset, but there was little she could do unless Ada showed any signs of discomfort.

She didn’t though. But what she did do … well, it should have been a warning sign that something wasn't quite right about her. The man said some pickup line but before he could finish, Ada shifted to look directly at him. The second he was under her gaze he faltered and started sputtering. Then Ada opened her mouth and said something. It was very quiet and try as she might, North could not overhear her. But whatever she said, it caused the man’s face to immediately drain of color. He stumbled backward as he stared at her in shock.

“How did you- how did you know that?” he gasped out.

But Ada did not say anything. She simply turned back to the window and quietly sipped her coffee.

The man shakingly stood up and all but ran out of the coffee shop. Suffice to say, North did not see the man return ever again.

The second time she saw someone else talk to Ada was several months later. North had been so busy chatting with Markus that she didn’t even notice the other man who had taken a seat across from Ada. When she did, she was quite taken aback. Not only was Ada engaging with him, but the man who was sitting across from her … well something didn’t sit right with her about him.

While Ada’s gaze was piercing, this man’s gaze set her on edge in a different way. It was less like he was looking at you and more like he was calculating the best moment to strike. It wasn’t the sort of predatory glare she had seen other men at bars eye women with, but rather something almost animalistic in nature. Almost as if he was a hunter, looking for his prey. North didn’t like the way his sharp canines caught the light. For some odd reason, he was also wearing gloves which also seemed strange to her.

Whoever he was, Ada was actually looking at him and he didn’t even flinch under her gaze. She was actually engaging with him and because of that, North’s curiosity increased. She had to know what was happening. So she went to clean off the nearby tables as she tried to listen in to their conversation.

“Ada, we need you for the job,” the man informed her, “are you going to be able to do it?”

“I- I don’t know, Nines,” she softly replied.

“Look, this is how you can be released from  _ them _ . How you can be free.”

“I just need more time.”

“Are you sure that’s what  _ you _ need? You know how they work, their methods, are you sure that this your choice and not some-”

“Nines,” Ada cut him off, “I know, okay. I know better than anyone out there. But I’m not going to run into this until I can say for sure what will happen.”

The man, Nines- North presumed, huffed as he leaned back into his chair.

“We’re running out of time,” he said.”

“I know,” was Ada’s soft reply.

There was an uneasy silence between them for a second before Nines took out a yellow clasp envelope and slid it over to Ada.

“I might as well give this to you know, so I don’t forget later. It’s a collection,” he said as Ada took it. North couldn’t tell what was inside but it looked like it was full of something.

Ada only nodded and slid the envelope into her pocket.

“Call Gavin if you need me,” Nines said as he stood up and walked out.

Ada went back to staring out the window and sipping at her coffee. It was then that the barrier that had been stopping North from being able to talk to Ada seemed to fall away. However strange that encounter was, seeing Ada actually interact with someone- it was like North just got the biggest confidence boost ever to shoot her shot.

The next time Ada came into the coffee shop, she made her usual order. When North went to hand her the order, she paused for a moment.

“Ada?” she tentatively asked. The blonde turned to look at her and North felt her mouth dry up being under her stare. But before she could lose her courage, she managed out, “Would you like to go on a date with me?”

There was a moment of deathly silence as Ada didn’t immediately respond. North felt like every single person in the store was holding their breath and staring intently, even though none of them seemed to pay any mind. North was confident that she had fucked everything up but then a soft smile spread onto Ada’s lips.

“I would like that very much.”

North could barely believe her ears as she was overcome with joy and giddiness.

“Ah, okay. Okay, great,” North replied as Ada went over to her table.

North could barely contain her excitement. She could feel Markus’ disapproving gaze on her but she couldn’t care less. She was going on a date with Ada and all was right in the world.

In fact, she had been so excited that it wasn’t until she got home from her shift that she realized that she never set a date or time with Ada for their date and she had no way of contacting her. All the happiness and excitement quickly drained away as she chided herself for being so stupid.

She had the next day off from work which she spent feeling miserable about her failed attempt at a date. At almost 3:00 in the afternoon, there was a sudden knocking on her door. Confused to who it could be, North tentatively opened it to reveal Ada standing at her doorstep. She was dressed quite nicely and still had those odd sunglasses on and the slight smile upon her lips.

“Are you ready for our date?” she asked.

“Uhm, date? Uh, yeah, I mean no, not yet, uhm one second, do you want to come in?” North managed to stutter out, being completely taken off guard by the woman’s appearance at her door.

Ada walked into the front of North’s house as she rushed off to quickly get ready. If she hadn’t been so focused on getting ready for her date, she might have found it odd how Ada knew her address despite never giving it to her. She may have also noticed the odd smell, not unlike the smell of when you start a radiator and the dust burns, coming from the room that Ada was standing in. Particularly from the corner of the room, where there had once been a spider web but now was only a faint wisp of smoke. But she didn’t notice this. Instead, she found her nicest shirt and threw on some makeup before heading out with Ada.

“So where are we going?” North asked as they walked down the street.

“We’re going for a walk in the park,” Ada replied like it was an obvious answer.

She was the strangest girl that North had ever met and yet she found it to be endearing.

The park was not far from North’s house and the two women walked around it together. North did most of the talking. She talked about Markus, Simon, and Josh, stories from her time as an art student, and her other assorted opinions on different topics. Ada made the small comment here or there but mainly seemed content to watch North ramble on about different things. Anytime that North worried that she might have gotten bored, she would look to Ada and see her giving that small fond smile that caused North’s heart to leap. Every time she caught a glimpse of that smile, a feeling bubbled up inside of her. It was hard to describe, but it was almost overwhelming with how much it overtook her. After a bit, they sat on one of the park benches together and watched the sunset.

Ada turned to her and asked, “Do you believe you have free will?”

North was a bit taken aback. Not only was it the first time that Ada had directly asked North something, but it also wasn’t exactly an easy question to answer.

“I- … Yes, I believe I do. Even though other things try to control us and force us down a certain path, we always have the choice to break free from that. We can choose our own path of destiny. Maybe it’s not inherent, maybe some people never get it, but I think all of us have an opportunity to achieve it. To make our own decisions. I believe that I am the only person who is in control of my life.”

Ada only nodded and looked back to the sunset.

“That sounds nice,” she quietly said.

North and Ada went on several other dates after that. Most of them were walking in the park together. One night, Ada took North to an Italian restaurant that seemed extremely overpriced but Ada handled the check with no problems. Every time though, Ada kept her dark sunglasses on. North didn’t think it would be polite to ask about it, so she didn’t. Even though she did think it was odd. Ada didn’t even take them off when they went to go see a movie together. It was a reshowing of  _ Memento _ . North quite liked the movie, but when she asked Ada what her opinion of it was, she said she hadn’t been paying much attention. She was a very strange woman, no doubt about it. But that was precisely why North began to find herself falling in love with her.

They were on another date when it happened. It was another date to the park, even though it was late and pretty cold out. But that’s what Ada said she wanted to do, so that’s what North wanted to do. North had been in the middle of recounting one of her stories about college when suddenly Ada gasped and stopped in her tracks. She was clutching at her chest as if she was in pain.

“We need to go,” she gasped out.

She began staggering out of the park with North by her side, equal parts confused and concerned. Ada immediately made a beeline to the nearest phone booth where she dialed a number full of panic.

“Nines?” she asked as soon as it connected, “Oh, Gavin. Gavin, I need you to get Nines and the others. It’s urgent. The tree fell. We need to do the job. Now.”

She hung up the phone and then looked at North, knuckles white as she gripped the sides of the phone booth to hold her up.

“I need to go back to my flat,” she informed her.

“Okay,” North nodded, “Let’s go.”

North had never been to Ada’s flat before, but judging by the way she had to cling to North’s arm for support, she couldn’t make the trip on her own. North was extremely worried, but she figured that Ada would explain eventually. They made it to her flat and there was a group of people waiting in front of it. North recognized one of them as being Nines, the man from the coffee shop. Another man was standing right next to him, smoking a cigarette. He was wearing a tank top despite the cold weather and had a crooked scar across his nose. A shorter Asian-American woman stood next to him. She had a firm glare in her eyes and North didn’t miss the gun that was at her hip. She was holding hands with another woman with staticky hair and scars that resembled fractals that covered her exposed neck and wrists. North almost didn’t notice the fifth person with them. An African-American man in what appeared to his early thirties. Though appeared was a good word for it because the man looked like he was almost transparent.

In short, they looked like bad news and North was worried about what Ada was getting involved with here.

Ada let go of North’s arm and took a few steps towards the group before turning around.

“Thank you for everything. Goodbye,” Ada said with such a sense of finality that it made North’s heart stop.

North should have turned around. She should have looked back to the long history of odd things Ada has done in the course of the past year and looked at the threatening group of people standing before her, and put it all together that she needed to get out of here before she was in over her head. But she didn’t. She couldn’t.

“Ada,” she gulped, “Can I kiss you?”

That soft smile that drove North insane crossed Ada’s lips.

“Okay,” she whispered,

Ada drew closer and then did something that North didn’t expect. She took off her sunglasses. She had her eyes shut, but she grabbed North’s face in her hands and opened them. And then North was barely able to think.

Ada’s eyes were blue, but not in the traditional sense. Rather, they were solid beams of shining blue light. There were cracks in her skin around her eyes where more blue light shone out from. She closed the gap between their lips and those cracks expanded across the scope of her body as they two were encased in the bright blue light. But that wasn’t even half of it.

Because every other time Ada had looked at North, she had felt like there was a glaring spotlight being shone on her that displayed everything there was to see. But this, this was much more intense. It was like every single atom of her body was being picked apart and looked over by Ada. Every detail, every aspect of her life, was being laid out bare in front of Ada. She could  _ see _ everything there was to North. Every bad thing, every good thing, and everything in between. There were many parts of North that even she didn’t want to look at, but Ada did. Ada saw every bit. And she kept kissing North.

The blue light shining through the cracks of Ada’s body was blinding now. It was like staring directly into the sun. Except the sun was the most beautiful woman that North had ever seen. There was little she could do as she was overwhelmed by being truly seen by someone for the first time in her. It was hard to tell if the kiss lasted seconds or years.

And then it was over. Ada broke away and the light was starting to fade. North could feel her knees give out underneath her as the shock and adrenaline took over her system. She tried to look at Ada again, but with the blinding light gone, her eyes were struggling to adjust and she couldn’t see anything.

“I’m sorry,” she heard Ada quietly say and felt a tear drop land on her hand, “That was the only way I knew how to protect you from the things that may come.”

She heard the sound of footsteps leaving and before she could do anything else, she passed out on the sidewalk.

When she awoke, it was still dark. She couldn’t see anything. There was the sound of a faint beeping coming from somewhere but North couldn’t tell where. There was something wrapped around her eyes and she made a move to go remove it. At the sound of her movement, she heard the sound of someone suddenly startling to attention.

“North! You’re awake.”

“Markus? Wha- what’s going on? What’s happening?”

She heard Markus sigh heavily. “You were in an accident, North. They found you passed out on a sidewalk and brought you to the hospital. You were definitely suffering from shock of some kind and … and your retinas. They-” he sighed heavily again, “they’re burned pretty bad. Doctors don’t know how it happened, but they’re not optimistic about your sight’s recovery.”

North didn’t know what to say. Her head was still swimming with thoughts of Ada and she didn’t know how to take the sudden news of her becoming blind. She supposed that there could be certainly worse things that could have happened to her. But still, it was just a lot to take in right now and she didn’t think she had the ability to properly process it right now.

“This doesn’t have something to do with Ada, does it?” Markus asked.

“How did you-”

“I’ve seen her kind before. They seem human enough, but the things that they can do … it’s not natural. They leave a trail of misery and suffering in their wake. That’s why I told you to stay away from her.”

“I … I don’t know if I would, even knowing that this would happen. She was just so unlike anyone I have ever met.”

“North, nothing good can come from people like her. I’ve seen what happens to people who don’t get away from them. It doesn’t end well.”

“Markus, I- I don’t think she was trying to hurt me.”

“Yeah blinding you really seems like something a caring girlfriend does.”

“Markus-” North started but she was interrupted by the sound of the door opening.

There was the click of heels as a person walked over to the hospital bed that North was lying on top of.

“May I speak to North for a minute? Alone?” came the sound of Ada’s voice.

North heard Markus grumble something before saying, “Yeah, just- I’ll be right outside the door if you need anything, North.”

North heard him walk outside and close the door behind him.

“Ada?” she quietly asked.

“Hello, North. There’s a lot you must want to ask me.”

“Yeah- are you okay?”

“I’m alright. For now. North, I- I understand if you do not wish for me to be here, after everything that happened.”

“No!” North replied a little too quickly, “No, I don’t mind. I mean, I’m super confused and I want answers. But I trust you.”

There was a pause.

“Why?” Ada quietly asked.

“I … I don’t think you’re a bad person, Ada.”

“I know many people who would disagree with you.”

There was another beat of silence.

“Ada … are you human?”

“I was once. Not anymore. At least, not in the traditional sense.”

“And your friends?”

“They’re the same as me. Similar is a better word for it. It’s very complicated.”

“You said you were protecting me. From what?”

“That’s a complicated question. It’s a very long story full of years worth of information that wouldn’t make much sense to you if I didn’t give you proper background information. Essentially, I serve, for lack of a better word, a god. There are different names for it, though I suppose the most common is The Eye. Does that make sense so far?”

“Kind of?”

“You’ve seen my … abilities. I can see things, truly see them, and know them. It is a power gifted to me by my god, but it’s a double-edged sword. The Eye, it feeds off fear. And if I don’t supply that fear through my abilities, then it feeds on me. At the same time, there has been another god, or power, that I have been deeply marked by. The Web. And it has been stringing me along with The Eye into preparing a world-ending ritual.”

“Wow, that’s a lot.”

Ada laughed softly and North couldn’t stop the somersaults her heart was doing at the sound.

“Yes, it’s intense. If it were to be successful, everything would suffer but those who had been cut off from The Eye. There’s only one way to do that, and … well allowing myself to blind you was the only way I could assure that you would be safe. That if I couldn’t stop the ritual, you would not be harmed. You’re now fully cut off from The Eye and it can’t touch you. For that matter, neither can I. I can’t see you like I did before.”

“That ritual … Did you stop it?”

“Temporarily, yes. I do not know what the future holds. But my friends and I, we’re doing what we can.”

“I knew you were a good person,” North smiled.

“I- I permanently hurt you, North. I am not a good person.”

North reached over in Ada’s direction until she found Ada’s hand and gripped it.

“You did it to protect me. I’ll admit, I really don’t understand most of what you’re saying about gods and rituals. But I do know this: you did what you had to do to keep me from being hurt worse. And like, shit Ada, you’re trying to stop the end of the world! That’s badass and something good people do.”

Ada ran her finger across North’s knuckles.

“I was expecting you to hate me after what I did to you.”

“I don’t think I can.”

They stood in silence for a couple of beats, with Ada gripping onto North’s hand.

“What was that whole thing about the tree and the job and all of that other stuff about?” North finally asked.

“That is a very long story.”

“Well, then. How about once I get out of here, you come by my place and you can tell me all about it?”

“I would like that.”

North smiled so hard her cheeks hurt.

“It’s a date.”

**Author's Note:**

> I originally thought up a TMA x DE crossover a while back like in May. That never made it past some half-written chapters and a vague outline. But! The idea has stuck with me and I decided to write this boy right here. Now, originally this was just going to be a stand-alone one-shot. But God has cursed me for my hubris and my work is never finished. This means that while I was trying to plan out exactly what direction I was going with Ada' storyline, I ended up thinking of a really cool plan for a much longer Reed900-centric fic set in this same universe. So! I'm not sure exactly where that ranks among my upcoming projects, but keep an eye out for it!
> 
> Also for reference: Nines is an avatar of The Hunt, Gavin is an avatar of The Desolation, Tina is an avatar of The Slaughter, Valerie is an avatar of The Vast, and Chris is an avatar of The Lonely. I'd explore them a lot more in the Reed900 fic that I may get to writing.
> 
> As always, yell at me on Tumblr @chaotic-bi-incarnate or on ig @elliot_475. Comments and kudos are always loved and appreciated.
> 
> Stay safe lovelies and don't forget to register to vote!


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